Rules

Togyzqumalaq (or Togyzkumalak, Toguz qumalaq) is a mancala family game played in Kazakhstan. The rules of Togyzqumalaq were codified in 1949 by Mukhtar Auezov and Kalibek Kuanishbayev. These rules became a basis for tournaments to this day.

The game starts with 9 stones in each hole (otau). The object of the game is to capture more stones than your opponent. Since the game only has 162 stones, capturing 82 is sufficient to accomplish this. As there is an even number of stones, it is possible for the game to end in a draw, where each player has captured 81.

The player who starts is known as 'Bastaushi' with the second player called 'Kostaushi'.

Gameplay

Players take turns alternately. On each turn, a player chooses one of the holes on their side that is not a tuzdik (see below), picks up all the stones from that hole, and distributes them anticlockwise, one by one, into the following holes. The first stone is dropped into the hole that was just emptied, unless there was only one stone in the chosen hole, in which case it is dropped into the next hole instead.

If the last stone is dropped into a hole on the opponent's side, and that hole then contains an even number of stones, these stones are captured and added to the player's score.

If the last stone is dropped into one of the opponent's holes, and that hole then contains exactly three stones, the hole becomes a tuzdik if permitted. If the hole becomes a tuzdik, the three stones are immediately captured. There are a few restrictions on creating a tuzdik:

• A player may create only one tuzdik during the game.
• The opponent's ninth hole cannot be turned into a tuzdik.
• A tuzdik cannot be created if it would be rotationally symmetrical to the opponent's tuzdik. For example, if your opponent's fourth hole is already a tuzdik, you cannot create a tuzdik on your opponent's fourth hole. Such a move is still legal, but the hole does not become a tuzdik and no stones are captured.

After a tuzdik has been created, any stone that is dropped into it is immediately captured by its owner.

Winning

If a player captures more than 81 stones during the game, the game ends and they are the winner. However the game is also over if a player has no moves. In this case the remaining stones on the board which have not been captured are won by the player on whose side they are on. The player with the most is the winner, if there is a tie (81 stones each) then the game is a draw.